9/11 News Items (9/17/26)
Arnold Korotkin
An informed citizen is an empowered citizen.
Below are summaries with URLs to news articles that appeared recently about 9/11 Health and Compensation Issues. An archive of past articles year by year can by found on the 911 Health Watch website
September 14, 2026 — Medical Daily — Sept 11 Responders Developing Dementia Find It Is Not on the Federal Program’s Covered Conditions List
Responders who spent weeks at Ground Zero are being diagnosed with dementia at ages when the condition is rare, and the federal program created to treat their 9/11 illnesses does not pay for it.
September 14, 2026 — Portside — This Week in People’s History, Sep 16–22, 2026
The struggle over an accurate characterization of the health risk created by the attack continued for years. The official position was always to deny any risk or to minimize it when denial was impossible.
September 14, 2026 — Politifact — Newly released NYC documents reveal early asbestos concerns following 9/11 attack
City officials knew that poor air quality and toxins including asbestos posed a threat to New Yorkers following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but kept that information from the public, newly released evidence shows.
September 14, 2026 — RealClearHealth — The Sacrifice Didn’t End on 9/11
Two hundred stories of office building came down on top of us. We did not find the symbols of an office building: no chairs, light bulbs or computer screens. We found nothing. All of it was in the air we were breathing.
September 14, 2026 — amNY — Brooklyn Bar hosts webinar on what estate lawyers need to know about the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund
“We thought it might become an important part to have attorneys who regularly deal with the VCF come to speak to us because now the VCF has essentially turned increasingly to death claims,” said the Trusts, Estates & Surrogate’s Court Committee member James Cahill. “Now 15% of all claims are death claims.”
September 13, 2026 — CBS 19 News — Study finds environmental factors may affect long-term health of 9/11 responders
A new study finds where World Trade Center responders live later in life may influence their long-term physical and mental health.
September 13, 2026 — Hoodline New York City — Retired NYPD Officer Beats 9/11 Cancer as Florida Becomes New Front Line
The officer’s story was reported by Fox 13 Tampa Bay, whose Kylie Jones detailed how the September 11 attacks left many first responders carrying more than a mental load — some also faced life-threatening physical burdens years after the towers fell.
September 13, 2026 — Newsweek — Thousands Breathed Toxic Dust on 9/11—The Health Effects Are Still Emerging
Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) noted in a review that many individuals exposed to the pollution have gone on to develop multiple conditions, including cancer, respiratory disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and mental disorders.
September 12, 2026 — Hoodline Atlanta — Federal 9/11 Health Program Excludes Care Obtained Outside U.S.
The World Trade Center Health Program excludes medical care, pharmacy products and medical supplies obtained outside the United States or its territories.
September 12, 2026 — CNN — The Twin Towers came down in a cloud of toxic dust. Its health impact has lasted decades
It was all dust – the bustling life contained in those towers, the office spaces, metals, desks and chairs, computers, plastics, cleaning products, electronics and more that once sat inside the original World Trade Center had been pulverized into a thick powder.
September 12, 2026 — The Spokesman-Review — John Feal: 25 years after 9/11, RFK Jr. is failing first responders
Nowhere is #NeverForget honored more in name and less in practice than in Washington, D.C., among the politicians and appointees who run it. Some will tell you our elected officials only remember 9/11 the first week of September, or when they’re running for office.
September 12, 2026 — Washington Examiner — Childhood 9/11 survivors get new CDC project for 25th anniversary
The World Trade Center Health Program, run by the CDC, recently announced the launch of its new Early Life Exposure initiative to investigate the long-term health ramifications for those who were children or in utero during the attacks.
September 12, 2026 — CBS News New York — Newly released 9/11 documents could help save lives, former congresswoman says
The newly released cache of documents related to air quality at Ground Zero after the 9/11 terror attacks could help save lives, former Rep. Carolyn Maloney says.
September 12, 2026 — WITN-TV (Washington, North Carolina) — Federal program offers free medical care for those exposed on 9/11
Thousands of lives were impacted in New York on 9/11, now those lives can qualify for free health programs no matter where they live.
September 12, 2026 — Detroit Metro Times — Mike Rogers opposed 9/11 responder health care not twice, but nine times
Congressional records reveal seven more instances than previously reported, including efforts to block or restrict medical care for 9/11 responders.
September 11, 2026 — Health Policy Watch — Twenty Five Years After 9/11 Attacks, New Center To Uncover Impact on Youngest Survivors
A new CDC research center aims to better understand the possible health effects of those 21 years or younger at the time of their 9/11 exposure.
September 11, 2026 — News12 Hudson Valley — Toll of 9/11 continues long after the towers fell
The World Trade Center Health Program and the Victim Compensation Fund are open to anyone who was in the exposure zone in the months following the attacks.
September 11, 2026 — NYU Langone Health — 25 Years Later, 9/11 First Responder Reflects on the Long-Term Health Impacts
For Mordechai Shedrowitzky, 51, ongoing care through the program has been an important part of managing the health problems he has experienced since the attacks.
September 11, 2026 — WBAL-TV Baltimore — 25 years later, the toll of 9/11-related illnesses continues to grow
As the nation marks the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11, families and survivors reflect on the ongoing impact of 9/11-related illnesses, with new victims still being added to the list.
September 11, 2026 — Today — Retired FDNY Chief Medical Officer on 9/11 Related Illnesses
Dr. Kerry Kelly, former chief medical officer for the FDNY, reflects on responding to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 after the first plane crash and talks about her work to help first responders who got sick in the wake of the attacks.
September 11, 2026 — NYC Health + Hospitals — NYC Health + Hospitals’ WTC Environmental Health Center Honors the 25th Anniversary of 9/11 and the Care Its Clinics have Provided to Nearly 22,000 Survivors
The WTC EHC, which is one of the World Trade Center Health Program’s eight Clinical Centers of Excellence, provides dedicated care for the New Yorkers who were exposed to toxic contaminants on the day of the attack and in the months that followed.
September 11, 2026 — All Rise News — A quarter-century later, 9/11 legal battles rage in court
Days ago, New York City settled lawsuits over toxic air, and Saudi Arabia will fight liability in court next month.
September 11, 2026 — MedicalXpress — Cancer is now the leading health threat for 9/11 survivors 25 years on
The number who are getting help paying for cancer treatment has roughly tripled in five years, according to a Washington Post analysis of reports from the World Trade Center Health Program.
September 11, 2026 — WFSB/WWAX, Hartford, Connecticut — Helping 9/11 survivors exposed to dust
In Connecticut, hundreds of survivors and first responders are still fighting for their health, according to the federal World Trade Center Health Program.
September 11, 2026 — KOLD-TV Tucson — Firefighters still battling health effects 25 years after 9/11
Before retired fire chief Chuck Ryan led the Tucson Fire Department, he found himself at the center of American history.
September 11, 2026 — Politico — A federal health program for 9/11 responders is still short-staffed
Doctors working with the government program to help survivors with 9/11-related illnesses warn about staffing shortages and slow approvals.
September 11, 2026 — Horizons from PBS News — The lasting health toll of 9/11 on rescue workers and survivors
Horizons moderator William Brangham explores the long-term health impacts with Dr. Michael Crane, Dr. Benjamin Luft and John Feal.
September 11, 2026 — Scientific American — 25 years after 9/11, survivors are still getting sick—here are the numbers
A quarter of a century after the Twin Towers fell, those who lived through the attacks are still seeking care for myriad illnesses, including cancers, post-traumatic stress disorder, and more.
September 11, 2026 — City & State New York — This week’s biggest Winners & Losers
Ben Chevat has been working for decades on behalf of first responders and now leads 9/11 Health Watch, which brought a lawsuit against New York City to obtain records related to the toxic air around ground zero. After 25 years, those records have finally been released.
September 11, 2026 — KTVU Fox 2 — I lived blocks from Ground Zero in 2001. Newly unsealed records reveal what we were breathing
We were evacuated, forced to flee as dust and debris blanketed the neighborhood. I had left earlier for class that day and was standing in front of Trinity Church when the first plane hit. I remember seeing office papers fall from the sky.
September 11, 2026 — CBS 6 Albany — Rep. Gillen suggests hearings, victim eligibility expansion after 9/11 air quality reveal
More people have now died after 9/11 (more than 5,000), compared to the day itself (nearly 3,000).
September 11, 2026 — JAMA Internal Medicine — World Trade Center Exposure at 25 Years-A Clinical Guide
This Viewpoint discusses how clinicians can screen patients for exposure to the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001.
September 11, 2026 — KIII-TV, Corpus Christi — His birthday became a day of service: Pentagon first responder remembers 9/11
Retired First Sgt. Ulysses Bell recounted helping recover debris and survivors from the Pentagon as Kingsville marked 25 years since the attacks.
September 11, 2026 — Jewish Journal — Chosen Links by Boaz – Ep 19 | 9/11: Remembrance and Resilience, 25 Years Later (Part Two)
The best way to honor those who were directly devastated on September 11th is by listening to their stories, remembering their families, recognizing their ongoing health challenges, and ensuring that the education doesn’t disappear.
September 11, 2026 — NBC News — ‘Did you get cancer yet?’: 25 years after 9/11, more and more people are getting sick
In the past year alone, more than 10,000 people have been diagnosed with 9/11-related cancers, part of a new